This classic granulating violet pigment, originally synthesized in 1859, was beloved of Monet for his Water Lilies paintings.
Pigment Stats
Pigment Number: PV14
Chemical Name: Cobalt phosphate
Toxicity: Toxic. Gets a B at ArtisCreation, the same rating as other cobalts. Requires a Prop 65 warning in California.
Lightfastness: ASTM I (Excellent).
Observations of WN Cobalt Violet
Hue: A flower-like pink, pinker than lilac but more violet than fuchsia.
Tinting Strength: Low. This paint is weaker than most pigments in my palette. The paint has a thick feel, and I can tell a lot of it is going down, but you have to use up a lot to make a reasonable amount of color. Tends to have a weakening effect on mixes, though I can’t tell if that’s a property of the paint or because I’m cautious about adding the other pigments for fear of overpowering the Cobalt Violet.
Granulation: This is a granulating paint; effects can particularly be seen in diluted washes and mixes.
Color Mixes:
- Mixes with yellows are very interesting and show these very separated effects with CV granulation over peachy washes. Naples Yellow Deep makes a fairly uniform peachy beige that could be good for white skin tones.
- In mixes with strong quinacridone-based reds and pinks, the Cobalt Violet gets lost and might as well not be there.
- Earth tone mixes are very interesting! There is a soft pinky effect lent to the earth oranges and reds. This seems like it would be a great set of mixes for Sedona.
- Has the same effect on nearly every blue, making vivid blue-purples with pink granulation.
- With Phthalo Green YS (PG36), a neutral gray with granulating color separation.
Comparison to Other Brands
Holbein – Cobalt Violet (PV47)
This Cobalt Violet is made from a different pigment, but is similar. The hue is bluer, but it’s also weak and grnaulating.
Comparison to Other Colors
Don’t confuse Cobalt Violet with Cobalt Blue Violet, a mixed violet made from Cobalt Blue plus a PV19 (likely Quinacridone Rose).
Color Mixes
These mixes are made from WN Cobalt Violet.
Cerulean Blue Genuine (PB36)
Intensely textured and color separating, mid-chroma violet blue mixes. I like this for close-up, glittering snow shadows.
Manganese Blue Mix (PB33, PB15)
This is Zoltan Szabo’s preferred mix for snow shadows, though I prefer the Cerulean.
Cobalt Turquoise
A natural comparison with Cerulean and Manganese Blues. Because of Cobalt Turquoise’s brighter cyan tones, the mixes are also brighter (more like Cerulean hues at bluest, though this is a bad way to make a Cerulean hue since Cobalt Violet is more expensive and weaker). I think these don’t get dark/muted enough for snow shadows, but they are very pretty in their color separation and suggest ethereal dreamy clouds.
What Others Say
Cobalt Violet is often the perfect color when painting flowers. It is a gorgeous lavender/violet that is not easily mixed with other paints.
Karen Kluglein, instagram reel (2024)
PV14 Cobalt Violet (sometimes also called “light”) – this pale pink-violet, highly granulating color is very unique. It’s hard to replicate in any mixture and it pains me to remove it from my palette – but it is chemically unstable. While it often passes lightfast tests in northern and dry climates, art sent to those in humid sunny climates can fade. It appears to be either a heat or humidity/acidic/PH level change issue which only takes place in select environments. I live in sunny, humid Florida on the waterfront – which causes this pigment to fade over the course of 6 months. Some pigments aren’t weatherfast, so it’s good to know where your client lives if doing commissioned art or gallery shows.
Kim Crick, Top Lightfast Watercolor Pigments
I tend not to have many secondary colors in my palette, as I prefer to mix my own. However, Cobalt Violet is wonderfully soft and is useful for creating shadows, particularly in areas of strong green foliage.
David Webb, Painting in Watercolor: The Indispensable Guide (2016), p. 35
TOP 40 PIGMENT … Although some artists disparage this pigment (Michael Wilcox calls it “gummy and weak”), genuine, high quality cobalt violet is a spectacular paint in broad wash applications — morning skies and magnified florals — and evocative in flesh tone shadows. … The hue is readily mixed from ultramarine blue and quinacridone rose, but the poetic granular quality and crystalline color permanence are unique and well worth exploring.
Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com (2010)
My Review of Cobalt Violet
It took me a long time to try this pigment because I (correctly) assessed that I would not really like it. It has basically all the qualities I don’t like: it’s toxic; weak; highly granulating.
Still, I really like the unmixed hue. The color-separating granulating that pops out of mixes can look very lovely. I feel like this pigment basically does what I wanted Potter’s Pink to do – add some pretty pink granulation to mixes – but I like the more electric shade of pink better compared to Potter’s Pink’s muted, dusty color.
Still, it’s a highly optional, borderline SFX color that I don’t think has a permanent place on my palette.
Wanna buy it? If you are after this paint in spite of my lackluster review, you can support the blog by using my affiliate links!
Comments
4 responses to “Color Spotlight: Cobalt Violet (PV14 or PV47)”
The tube of W&N I have is absolutely loaded with binder. I think companies are overusing the binder to reduce tube separation. It’s also an expensive pigment so loading up the binder reduces their cost.
Try the Etsy seller “Prodigal Sons.” Apparently, he uses less filler with his cobalt violet. Holbein’s more bluish PV 47 is also interesting. I use it in oils and it holds its own just fine.
Update: I have added PV47 to this page! I was able to try it from a dot from a kind friend.
Not all cobalt pigments are toxic enough to worry about. PG 50 and PG 28, for instance, don’t have soluble cobalt. PG 19 and PV 14, though, do. Solubility can make a big difference. Barium is quite toxic but barium sulphate is safe to ingest (which is why it’s used as a contrast agent in medicine) because it’s so insoluble.
PB 28, I meant.